Alumni News
Jonathan Castro (BFA 2007 Art & Design) received an honorable mention and the People’s Award for “ANOMALY: Tea for Two” at the 19th Tokyo-New York Friendship Ceramic Competition.
July 12, 2023
Evan Monson (BS 2017 Community & Regional Planning), a planner in the Twin Cities metro, recently passed the AICP exam and achieved AICP certification.
June 13, 2023
Troy Abel (MFA 2008 Graphic Design / PhD 2010 Human Computer Interaction) has joined Comcast as the design manager for the Xfinity Mobile 360 Residential and Business tool.
June 6, 2023
Lily-Love Toppar (BLA 2011 Landscape Architecture), founder of Atelier Lily-Love, has earned the EB2-NIW (National Interest Waiver) and a Permanent Residence Card in the United States without employer sponsorship. EB2-NIW is designed for professionals with exceptional abilities who hold advanced degrees and can demonstrate that their proposed endeavor is in the national interest of the United States of America.
June 5, 2023
“H is for Hopeful,” a poster by Michael Braley (BFA 1993 Graphic Design) of Michael Braley Design, was selected for the Haapsalu Graphic Design Festival 2023: Hopeful on display May 27–July 2 at that Haapsalu Cultural Center in Haapsalu, Estonia.
Three of his posters were selected to appear in the 6th International Poster Biennale Lublin 2023, which opens June 17 at the Center for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin, Poland.
His “Woman. Life. Freedom” poster and “Utah State University Caine College of the Arts Hashimoto Seminar Visiting Artist” poster will be part of the Bolivia Poster Biennial (BlCeBe) 2023 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, in November. BlCeBe 2023 received more than 12,500 posters from 90 countries and jurors selected 541 posters for the exhibition.
June 1, 2023
May 30, 2023
Andrew Jensen (BS 2005 Community & Regional Planning) was named director of Engineering Ministry International (EMI) Senegal. EMI Senegal provides design services and construction management across francophone West Africa.
“We Are All Made of Stars,” a painting by Jeremy Caniglia (BFA 1993 Art & Design – Drawing, Painting, Printmaking), will be part of the 2023 New Masters Exhibition May 26–Sept. 30 at Pace Gallery in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The show features 40+ top professional artists depicting realistic landscapes, figures and portraits.
May 23, 2023
Kristen Greteman (BArch 2011 / MS 2016 Architecture / MCRP 2016 Community & Regional Planning) won a 2023 Garst Foundation Graduate Scholarship in History to support her doctoral dissertation project this summer.
Akshali Gandhi (BS 2012 Community & Regional Planning / International Studies), a transportation planner in Seattle, has received a Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Award for 2023-2024 for her project, “Safe Streets for Children in Indian Cities.” She will spend eight months in Pune, India, housed at the Institute for Transportation Development and Policy India, where she will conduct research on street design and public space interventions.
May 22, 2023
While a project manager for Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, California, Kristin Strahl (BS 2006 Apparel, Merchandising, Design & Production / MA 2010 Art & Design – Interior Design) was part of the project management team for the Sharp Prebys Innovation and Education Center and its leader for the final year of construction. This building, a new parking structure, and improvements to an existing building and the overall campus has provided many new and unique functions to San Diego’s largest healthcare provider. The project was delivered on time and on budget, despite the supply chain challenges present throughout its three-year duration. Strahl now works project management consultants The Barrie Company.
Helen Chandler (BFA 2022 Integrated Studio Arts) has been accepted into the Glasgow School of Art’s one-year Master of Letters in Fine Art graduate program. She will start in September.
May 11, 2023
Sydney Obermeier (BFA 2022 Interior Design) is an interior designer I with Populous in Kansas City.
Huiwon Lim (MA 2016 / MFA 2018 Graphic Design), assistant professor of graphic design at Penn State, received the university’s 2023 Sustainability Faculty Award.
April 15, 2023
Adam Novack (BLA 2012 Landscape Architecture) has been promoted to director of design at Waterfront Toronto.
Jamila Johnson (BFA 2019 Integrated Studio Arts) is an organizer and administrator for the 2023 Iowa Pop Art Festival in Cedar Rapids.
April 12, 2023
Two pieces of art by Meghan Flynn (BFA 2011 Integrated Studio Arts) were selected as finalists for the Manifest Gallery Grand Jury Arize.
Macario Bandera (BArch 2016 Architecture) has been promoted to associate at Pickard Chilton. He is serving as a project designer for Sherwin-Williams’ new 36-story corporate headquarters in Cleveland, OH.
Shirley Thomas (MArch 2018 Architecture) started a new position as Architectural Designer at Studio Meng Strazzara.
April 10, 2023
Josh Kassing (BArch 2014 Architecture / MFA 2016 Interior Design) has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Mary Cook Associates. He has been with Mary Cook Associates since 2017.
Chad Moklestad (MArch 2020 Architecture) joined OPN Architects as Emerging Professional II.
Rob Whitehead (BArch 1993 Architecture), FAIA, LEED AP, associate professor of architecture at Iowa State University, has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Elevated for his contributions to the profession through his work in education, Whitehead will join all new Fellows — including three other Iowa State architecture alumni — at the College of Fellows Investiture Ceremony during the AIA Conference on Architecture in San Francisco in June.
March 21, 2023
Angela Ward Hyatt (BArch 1991 Architecture), president of Schwartz/Silver Architects, has been elevated to AIA Fellow. She will be recognized at the AIA National Convention in San Francisco in June.
Tim Schroeder (BArch 1994 Architecture) has been elevated to AIA Fellow and will be recognized at the AIA National Convention in San Francisco in June. Schroeder is the president of Neumann Monson Architects.
Rob Reis (BA 1977 Architecture), design principal and design director at Hanbury, has been elevated to AIA Fellow. He will be recognized at the AIA National Convention in San Francisco in June.
Rachelle Schoessler Lynn (BFA 1990 Interior Design) has joined BKV Group in Minneapolis as the director of sustainable design and senior associate.
Michael Wagler (MCRP 2006 Community & Regional Planning), Main Street Iowa Coordinator, was elected to the Main Street America National Board of Directors. He also serves as the chair of the Main Street America Coordinator Leadership Council. Wagler will host the Main Street America summer board meeting in Des Moines in June.
March 14, 2023
“Woman on a Pedestal,” a solo exhibition by S Richard Shook (BA 1983 Art & Design), will be on display at Dog Eared Books from April 20 through early June. The collection features paintings of women in daily life and a statue decorated with glass flowers. Richard observes and values the roles of women, aiming to move beyond a superficial male gaze when painting and sculpting them.
March 13, 2023
Bethany Wilcoxon (BS 2008 Community & Regional Planning) was elected president of the Clive Community Foundation. The Foundation ignites philanthropy through the distribution of donations from Clive area businesses and residents. Wilcoxon joined the board in 2021.
Kate Thuesen (BArch 2007 Architecture), AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, senior associate and talent strategist with DLR Group, is a recipient of the 2023 Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects.
March 9, 2023
Mahsa Adib’s (MLA 2019 Landscape Architecture) research has been published as a journal paper titled “Professional perceptions of participatory practices in green stormwater infrastructure development.” She is a PhD candidate in architecture with a focus on landscape architecture at Pennsylvania State University.
March 7, 2023
“Inland Surveying,” fiber work by Catherine Reinhart (BFA 2008 Integrated Studio Arts), won the Winifred V. Brown Best of Show award at the Octagonal 2023: All Media Show at the Octagon Center for the Arts. The exhibition is on display through April 8.
“An Apology to Her,” work by Jamila Johnson (BFA 2019 Integrated Studio Arts), is part of Windows to the Inside: Expressions of Mental Health, a virtual exhibition on display through April 30.
Michael Braley (BFA 1993 Graphic Design) of Braley Design designed the identity for the inaugural United States International Poster Biennial 2023. He also created a winning poster design for the 2022 Peace Poster Competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the Forum for Cultural Engagement. The prize afforded Braley the opportunity to visit New York City and Washington, D.C., to meet with cultural leaders and other international winners last week.
February 24, 2023
Lisa Kalaher (BArch 2002 Architecture), partner with PLaN Architecture in Sioux City, is the 2023 Spring Conference Committee chair for the American Institute of Architects, Iowa chapter (AIA Iowa). The spring conference, “Strengthen Communities: Equity through Design,” will be held virtually April 6–7.
Donald Larew (BA 1963 Interior Design) received a Governor’s Award for the Arts presented by the North Dakota Council of the Arts. He is a professor emeritus of theatre arts at North Dakota State University.
February 22, 2023
“Using a web-based digital simulation to foster empathy for older adults with visual impairments,” an article by Margaret Parks (MFA 2022 Interior Design), now a healthcare designer at Mayo Clinic, and Daejin Kim, Iowa State University assistant professor of interior design, has been published in the journal Educational Gerontology. Developed from Parks’ master’s thesis project, this research article aimed to understand the role of a web-based vision simulator on students’ empathy for older adults with vision impairment.
February 20, 2023
Calee Cecconi (BFA 2007 / MFA 2016 Graphic Design) curated the Low-Fidelity Design: Making Techniques from the Minnesota Underground Music Scene exhibition on display Jan. 28–May 13 at the University of Minnesota’s Goldstein Museum of Design.
February 17, 2023
Lynn Ross (BS 1999 Community & Regional Planning), founder and principal of Spirit for Change Consulting LLC, is the new chair of the KABOOM! board of directors. KABOOM! is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending playspace inequity. Ross joined the board in 2020.
February 14, 2023
King Au (BArch 1982 / MArch 1985 Architecture) was commissioned by Iowa State University Museums to create three interpretative photographs to honor Jack Trice for the 100th Year Commemorative Celebration. The photographs are on exhibition at the Christian Petersen Art Museum through spring of 2024.
February 10, 2023
“Young Lords and Their Traces,” a recent exhibition of work by Theaster Gates (BS 1996 Community & Regional Planning / MA 2005 Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies / Hon. Doctorate 2017 Humane Letters) was presented at the New Museum in New York, NY.
Scot Schuckert (MLA 2013 Landscape Architecture) joined Genus Landscape Architects as a field operations coordinator.
February 6, 2023
“Volunteer Corn,” a painting by Robert Jinkins (MFA 2018 Integrated Visual Arts), won Best of Show in the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art’s 6th ANJE (Annual National Juried Exhibition), hosted this year by D. Anthony Gallery while WMoCA undergoes extensive renovations. The show opened Jan. 20 and runs through April 15.
January 25, 2023
Debra Satterfield (MFA 1991 Graphic Design), professor of design at California State University, Long Beach, recently was named chair of the Department of Design in the CSULB College of the Arts. She is developing a new learning community for students in the Bachelor of Arts in Design program.
Josh Kassing (BArch 2014 Architecture / MFA 2016 Interior Design) and Mario LaPlaca were married Dec. 31 in Chicago. Kassing is the vice president of design development for Mary Cook Associates.
January 24, 2023
“Oh Could I Raise the Darken’d Veil,” a painting by Jeremy Caniglia (BFA 1993 Art & Design – Drawing, Painting, Printmaking), was selected by the jury for inclusion in IBA (Infected by Art) Volume II.
Rahele (Jomepour) Bell (MFA 2015 Integrated Visual Arts) is one of 80 artists from 28 countries and territories selected for the 2023 Winning Illustrators List in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair’s 57th Illustrators Exhibition. She was recognized for her artwork for The Treasure Box children’s picture book. The winners were chosen from 315 finalists out of 4,345 total participants in the exhibition.
Jodi van der Wiel (BArch 1994 Architecture) joined MoodyNolan as a project designer.
January 17, 2023
An exhibition of 25 photographs by Kristine Heykants (BFA 1988 Art & Design), an artist and adjunct faculty member in digital media at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, will be on display Jan. 23–March 3 in the Catich Gallery at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.
Titled Work Ethic: Women in Rural Iowa, the show is a selection of photos from Heykants long-term documentary project, “Uprooted.” A public reception will be from 3–5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3.
The Iowa City Public Works Facility designed by Neumann Monson Architects was named a 2022 Top 10 U.S. Architecture project by Dezeen. Iowa State University College of Design alumni Jesse Bulman (BArch 2005 Architecture), Brandon Fettes (MArch 2016 Architecture) and Dave Zahradnik (BArch 1994 Architecture) contributed to the project. In 2022, American Institute of Architects recognized the project as a COTE Top Ten Award winner. In 2021, the American Public Works Association named the Iowa City Public Works Facility the U.S. Project of the Year.
January 10, 2023
